Leon Levitch was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. His early education was interrupted by the Nazi invasion of his country. His family managed to evade the Nazis for nine months by hiding in the mountains until they were captured by Mussolini's army and interned in northern Italy. A year-and-one-half later the family was transferred to a concentration camp in southern Italy. In 1944, the Levitch family was among a group of less than a thousand Jews rescued by the United States government. They were brought to the U.S. and interned in a camp at Oswego, N.Y. until the end of the War. They then entered the United States as refugees. In the internment camps, young Leon acquired the skills of piano tuning while devoting himself to composition and the study of music in general. Mr. Levitch completed his education in California. He studied piano with Jakob Gimpel and began studying at Los Angeles City College. Almost immediately he was drafted into the Army. Just before being shipped to Korea, it was discovered that he was really exempt from the draft because he had been in a concentration camp. He was honorably discharged and allowed to complete his education under the G.I. Bill. He continued his studies with Roy Harris at UCLA, but in 1967 he was in a terrible auto accident. While he was in the hospital, Harris came to his bed weekly to continue to teach him. For more than forty years Leon Levitch has supported himself and his family as a piano technician while pursuing his vocation as a composer.